HENNIKER, N.H. – Amherst College's Christopher Martin '17 netted a hat trick and added an assist as the 10th-ranked Jeffs scored three goals in the first 10:20 of the second half to down New England College, 4-0 in Tuesday evening's non-conference men's soccer game in Henniker, N.H.  

With the win, Amherst begins its season 1-0-0 overall, while New England suffers its first setback of the season and moves to 3-1-0 on the season.

Amherst wasted little time slotting in its first goal of the 2015 campaign as senior Nico Pascual-Leone found Martin who scored just 4:52 into the contest to give the Jeffs a 1-0 lead. The scoring strike came just moments after Andrew Orozco '17 delivered a header on target that was turned aside by Pilgrims' goalkeeper Tenzin Khenrab.

Midway through the first half, New England had a pair of good looks at an equalizer – both through Ronsard Masamba – who fired a pair of shots on net, but Amherst senior net-minder Thomas Bull was able to collect both attempts and keep the Pilgrims off the board.

With just over 15 minutes remaining in the first stanza, Pascual-Leone received a centering pass in the box and placed an acrobatic shot on target, but Khenrab was able to stave off the shot to keep the score at 1-0. Two minutes later, Aziz Khan '18 dribbled down the left side of the box and attempted to score inside the far post but his effort went just wide as the Jeffs held a 1-0 edge at intermission.

The Purple & White totaled 10 shots (five on goal) in the first half, while the Pilgrims registered eight shots (two on target) in the first 45 minutes.   

In the 50th minute of play, Amherst doubled its advantage when Orozco beat Khenrab for his first goal of the season following an assist from Martin. Less than two minutes later, Martin found the back of the net for a second time to give the Jeffs a 3-0 cushion. Bryce Ciambella '17 provided the helper on the goal as Amherst continued to apply pressure in New England's defensive third of the field.

Ciambella then connected with Martin for a second time as the junior forward was able to deposit his third goal of the contest into the nylon at the 55:20 mark to give the Purple & White a commanding 4-0 advantage.

From there, Amherst was able to keep the Pilgrims at bay allowing a total of just three shots on target as Bull picked up his first clean sheet of the season. Amherst finished with 19 shots (11 on goal) in the winning effort, led by Martin and Pascual-Leone who combined for nine shots.

Khenrab finished with six saves in the losing effort for New England in 80:27 of action.

Amherst returns to action on Saturday, September 12 when it hosts NESCAC rival Bowdoin College at 2:30 p.m. at Hitchcock Field.